Introduction

I'm guessing you've been looking to wreak a little havoc up in top lane as the tanky DPS meta has overtaken League of Legends, huh? Well, look no further than Rumble, the Mechanical Menace. This little furball isn't alone in battle, because he's got a giant kickass mech with him to torch, smash, and obliterate his foes. A hulking steel titan with incredible sustainability, high damage output, and no mana costs is the perfect recipe for a solo top bruiser. If you want to bully top lane into submission, this is the champion for you.

Welcome to my second guide ever in the history of ever for League of Legends. My first guide (at the time of typing this) is the number 1 Jarvan IV guide here on MOBAfire. You can find it here. I'm going to take my experience with that guide and apply what worked to this guide. I don't do change logs because I make minor adjustments lots of times and it's a pain to keep track of. Check back often it you'd like to see changes, because it will mostly evolve over time. If Rumble gets changed in a patch, expect to see this guide reflect those changes within two or three days.

You can expect this guide to have good formatting, proper spelling, small amounts of wit and charm, research and thought, personal game experiences, and criticism-enhanced updates. By all of that I mean that I put a lot of work into my guides, be that checking out other guides, watching streams, playing in different team compositions, and also responding to comments and suggestions on the guide itself. Yes, I take criticism very seriously. If I am offered something smart that I hadn't thought of, it may find its way into my guide. It's a healthy practice to accept criticism, rather than reject it.

I snagged my guide format from Searz, changing it up a bit to fit my own style. It was a great stepping stone for me to produce my own guide with. You can find it here. It's very helpful, so he deserves some credit.

I'm not going to coddle you, if you need to know exactly what an item or ability does, scroll over it, you lazy bastard.

Masteries

Rumble is a champion with no mana costs, so it's not very profitable to go into the utility tree, even though that's usually my preference for solo top champions. The same is true for going deep into the offensive tree. It's simply not that beneficial, so going all 21 points into the defensive tree is the best, and widely accepted, method.

After the recent mastery changes I thought I'd have to switch Rumble up a bit, but actually I was wrong. 09/21/00 is still how I feel he should run. If anything, the changes only made this setup even more viable.

Runes

Greater Mark of Insight
Pretty much the only thing you should ever take for marks on Rumble. The magic penetration is just essential for maximizing Rumble's early game bullying. Do not consider any other options. If you do not own these runes, you should. Buy them ASAP.

Greater Seal of Resilience
I take these for extra damage mitigation, especially early game. These runes will keep you buff until you pick up your Chain Vest. I used to run Evasion seals, but dodge is being phased out of the game and with the mastery changes it wasn't worth using the runes anymore, even until they're gone. Greater Seal of VitalityVitality runes aren't a bad option though if you do not posses the flat armor runes.

Greater Glyph of Shielding
These are my own personal preference for tanky champions. Magic resistance becomes more important during mid and late game, so I feel these are the best choice for tanky glyphs. Other options would be Warding, Focus, or Force runes. Either better early game defense versus casters, more CDR, or better damage late game. All of these are viable options, just not my own preference.

Greater Quintessence of Swiftness
You can pick from a few different sets here, as there's several viable options to run on Rumble. Personally I like the extra movespeed these give, since you can't really itemize for that well. It gives you that extra edge you need throughout the game. You can also run Potency or Insight runes for extra damage, or Fortitude runes for extra HP during early game. Personally, I don't like these at all post-nerf, because they just don't give very much health and are only really useful for the first three or four level, where afterwards they become unnoticeable.

Summoner Spells

Flash
The alternative to Ghost, which has now become my personal preference at solo top. If the other team is very CC heavy, this is always better for avoiding stunlock situations. It's also useful for being able to escape or gank to and from the jungle or over ledges. I just personally feel Ghost is usually a better choice on Rumble because he's fairly tanky and you shouldn't be put into bad situations where you need to blink away if you're Rumble, especially for chasing or returning to your lane quickly. I have realized that I can be a lot more aggressive and commence surprise attacks when using Flash, so it's come to replace Ghost as a personal preference.

Teleport
A very useful skill to have if you're going to solo top. If you feel you don't need the extra offensive power of Ignite, then take this and enjoy being able to hold top lane for an absurd amount of time. Not to mention blink across the map to participate in far away teamfights, possibly turning the tide in favor for your team with your ultimate.

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Ignite
Because Teleport isn't too mandatory on Rumble, taking Ignite is a great tool to help make Rumble's early game even more dominate. With this tool in your arsenal you should easily be able to bully your lane around to half HP, then pop your ultimate when you turn level 6 and melt your opponent in a fiery blaze.

Ghost
While Rumble doesn't have a built in ability like Flash, he doesn't always require Flash, since he's so tanky and should be able to survive most times when being CC'd, then run away quickly due to Mercury's Treads and Scrap Shield. This allows him to take Ghost for the boost in chasing someone down. It can also be used as a last resort to quickly return to your tower if necessary (if your Teleport is down, or if you don't have Teleport).

Skill Sequence

I usually level in the order given in the table on the top of the guide.

You take Flamespitter first, and I usually spam it to keep my Junkyard Titan heat level above 50 in case a level 1 teamfight breaks out near blue buff. I then take Electro-Harpoon followed by Scrap Shield and 2 more levels in Flamespitter. The damage from your flamethrower and that fact that is acts as a passive when on allow you to last hit minions and probably hit the opposing laner at the same time.

Of course, take The Equalizer at levels 6, 11, and 16. Take 1 level in Scrap Shield at level 7, then max out Flamespitter. Alternate between Electro-Harpoon and Scrap Shield until they're both maxed out and you're fully leveled.

This sequence allows you maximize your lane bullying with Flamespitter, then follow up by both scaling your shield defense and your offensive slowing at a level relative to your opponent.

Build Sequences

The first build is my standard Rumble build. It's also fairly common, as tanky Rumble seems to be the most widely accepted way to play him. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a must, turning your Flamespitter into a slowing flamethrower. It also makes your Electro-Harpoon even more impossible to escape from. Hextech Revolver is picked up early for extra lane sustainability and lane bullying. From there it's tanky offensive items to enable you to stick around and torch as many enemies as possible. Once you've gotten your sustainability, you're free to pick up luxury items and upgrade your Hextech Revolver into something.

The second build is a tank approach to playing Rumble. If you really need to be beefy, this is the route to go. It offers high sustainability, but enough damage potential to remain a threat. A tank that is not a threat is a worthless tank, so always keep that in mind when playing the tank role. Like other builds, Rylai's Crystal Scepter remains a core item, but it's followed by top tier tank items like Force of Nature and Sunfire Cape. This build makes Rumble truly impossible to bring down in skilled hands.

The first alternative build is an AP carry approach to playing Rumble. If you don't need to be the beefiest member of your team, this route might prove useful. It offers insanely high AoE damage, as well as making your Scrap Shield an impenetrable wall of magical debris.

The second alternative build is less than typical, but should be viable if played right. It focuses on making great use of Junkyard Titan's melee damage output. It's somewhere along the lines of experimental builds, but it has great potential.

Starting Items

Boots of Speed and x3 Health Potions.
I used to suggest going Doran's Shield, but after changing the way I played personally and listening to advice from other experienced players, I've felt the switch to the boots+pots style was a smart decision for me. It gives you great harass with your mobility, especially from your runes, and pretty good sustain from pots. Another good reason for this change was the removal of dodge runes. Since I no longer run dodge runes and instead run flat armor runes, the Doran's Shield just wasn't that useful anymore.

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Regrowth Pendant and x1 Health Potion
If you really need the sustain, but don't want to waste gold on pots, try this route. This item is useful for that sustainability solo top requires. With this you can safely venture off into your laning opponent's harassment to gather last hits and gold, then return and regenerate any lost HP. It builds into Force of Nature, so this would be a smart starting item if you're running that route.

Core Items

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
This item gives you a huge boost in AP, which is beneficial to every one of Rumble's abilities, even his passive. It allows him to slow everyone in front of him with Flamespitter while also making his Electro-Harpoon slow opponents to a crawl. The health it gives is also one of the reasons this item is core on Rumble. Being a tanky AP caster, perhaps if Rumble were mana-based a Rod of Ages would be more viable, but since he's not this item is the way to go. Everything it gives is beneficial.

Mercury's Treads
Rumble doesn't have a flash, but he does have a speed boost in Scrap Shield, so being CC'd is not an ideal situation for Rumble to be in. These boots give him that CC reduction he needs to continue his rampage in a teamfight, or pop Ghost and run away if he has to. The MR is always a necessary addition to any tanky champion, or any champion at all, for that matter. When playing Rumble normally, no other boots are recommended.

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Sunfire Cape
This item might as well add damage to Flamespitter directly, because that's pretty much what it does. The passive is just so good, and often unnoticed, in teamfights. This item gives Rumble even more HP, as well as the much needed armor. It's also fairly cheap for its stats.

Abyssal Scepter
MR and AP in one item is pretty kickass, especially with a passive that makes all of Rumble's (and his teammate's) abilities do more damage, including Sunfire Cape. There's simply too many good things going for this item to ignore it, not mention it's roughly as cheap as the ol' flaming cloak.

Preferred Items

Rabadon's Deathcap
There really doesn't have to be much explanation for this one. All of Rumble's skills, even his passive, all scale off of AP. The more AP you have, the more damage you're going to deal, the more shield you're going to have, the more awesome your game is going to go. If you can get away with not taking a survivability item in the place of this, you're going to be dealing a lot much more damage. It's just a fact.

Void Staff
Is their team really tanky in terms of MR? Well then, picking up one of these will ensure you always do damage to some extent to anyone you target. However, it's not as useful if you already have a Abyssal Scepter, so I wouldn't recommend getting both.

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Force of Nature
A tanky rumble with this baby will be near impossible to kill. The HP regeneration from its stats and passive together will also allow you to refuel your health really fast in between harassment and teamfights. I always pick up a Negatron Cloak first so I can make the choice between this and Abyssal Scepter later, rather than committing to one early.

Hextech Gunblade
I used to not use this, but when it comes to end game fights and you have all that gold sitting around, this item really tops off your build. Adding more AP, AD, spellvamp, some lifesteal, and an active for picking off a speedy carry in late game, this item really finalizes Rumble's potential. This item also gives everything Rumble needs to be a melee threat with Junkyard Titan overheating.

Other Viable Items

Lich Bane
While the mana is going to waste, with the Sheen proc and Rumble's Junkyard Titan, this item can be devastating with a hybrid bruiser build. Hell, even with a full AP build, this would be a great late game item to snag.

Will of the Ancients
An amazing item and one that helps out you and your team immensely. It gives you AP, more spell vamp, and even gives these things to your team. It's also pretty cheap, so don't hesitate to take it earlier if your team could make good use of it.

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Sorcerer's Shoes
If you'd like some more early game damage and don't have a need to prevent CC with Mercury's treads, then this item would work well. It's also useful if you're running more of a straight AP route.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
An alternative boot choice that can be very useful, especially if you're running the hybrid bruiser route to make great use of Junkyard Titan. This allows you to spam into overheating mode a lot faster.

Laning Phase

So, you should always be solo top with Rumble, at least almost always. There are occasions where you'd go mid to shut someone down, much like when Mordekaiser goes mid, but that's not what this build is about. Take your starting item(s) and head to blue buff if you're on the blue side, or just to top if you're on purple side. Unless, of course, your team is going to level one fight or expects great threat from the opposing team invading your jungle, then you should help out.

Regardless, you should spam Flamespitter to get it just dipping into the 50 heat range. It's a skill you'll have to learn, because there are times when you do and don't want to overheat with Junkyard Titan. Knowing when each is useful takes skill. It's also good to note you can return to lane faster if you can keep your heat above 50 and spam Scrap Shield, as you move even faster when in the Danger Zone.

Farm the front creeps while torching the back rows with Flamespitter, last hitting when possible. This should allow you to farm and force your opponent to either back off or take damage for last hitting. Whenever possible, jump out with Flamespitter and Scrap Shield running to deny your opponent some CS and harass him whenever possible. As Rumble, it is your job to bully your lane as much as possible. Yes, you will almost always push, but it shouldn't be too hard to split time between harass and farming, so your lane should still stay roughly in the middle. Snag a Vision Ward or two when possible so you can watch for ganks, since you'll often be extended.

If you keep a good balance between harassment and farming, you should be able to be above your opponent's CS, even if you lose some of your own last hits from denying his. Rumble is one of the best solo tops, so, with some occasional help from a jungler and smart play, you can win any 1v1 lane, and many 1v2 lanes (if they decide to pit a duo against a champion with AoE spells).

Teamfights

In teamfights it's important to leap onto their carry and wear him/her down with your damage over time, sticking onto them with your slowing spells and sheer bulk. You can initiate with The Equalizer on as many of your opponents as possible, right smack in the middle of the fight. You should be charging in with Flamespitter and Scrap Shield running, using Electro-Harpoon on any champ that's trying to run from you.

As a tanky initiator, most fights won't truly break out until you run in. Landing your AoE spells on as many of them will be truly beneficial to your team for them to set up their ultimates, as everyone should be slowed by Flamespitter and The Equalizer proccing Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Conclusion

I hope my guide is well-received and useful to those of you who wish to try your hand at solo top Rumble. He's incredibly fun to play, being both a spammy AND a tanky champion, two things that are always fun. Being a bully in lane is also always a treat. ;D

Please vote, comment, and share with your friends. I will try and respond to everyone who comments on my guide to provide guidance on any questions or comments about the build.

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!